In part 1 we looked at creating a Staff Directory using the User
Information List. This time we'll attempt it with the People Search.

To
begin with obviously we need to be able to search find people using the
search. I have already set up a site using the Search Center site
template. The only problem is I am getting no results when searching
for people.

I followed these instructions. - http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.sharepoint.portalserver.development/browse_thread/thread/6f01af3e9da9e0b2/3caa0e3d6d1237c1
and it now works.

The first thing we can explore is what happens when we click edit on the page. Remembr that the search results page is actually a publishing page which is why it sits in a /pages directory.

Looking at this page in edit mode can provide some insight into what all those search web parts in the web parts gallery do. The capabilities of this page are beyond the scope of this article but will definitely be revisited in another article.

One of the requirements of the staff directory is that users should be able to click on a letter like this..

This was easily achieved by modifying the script found here - http://www.ramonscott.com/wordpress/?p=8

Next we want to customise the layout of the search results themselves. As with most of the web parts you will need to edit the XSL. Before you do though note that there appears to be a bug that throws an error every time you edit the XSLT. You can ignore it but unfortunately you can't see any changes you make until you publish the page. More info here - http://www.sharepoint-tips.com/2007/04/error-item-with-same-key-has-already.html

Instructions on customisation can be found here - http://www.sharepointology.com/development/customize-the-people-search-results-part-1/ and here - http://www.sharepointology.com/development/customize-the-people-search-results-part-2/

I was going to provide some of these instructions myself but these articles explain them really well.

Just to add a few finishing touches we can adjust the search dropdown options by mofidying propeties of searchbox.

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